My Heavenly Father Loves Me

Wednesday, the 13th, was the last of the mega-zone conferences.  It was in Dyker Heights.

Sister Krause was wearing a dress with pineapple figures on it.
I had on my apron with lemons on it so we did a "fruits" picture.

Dyker Heights chapel

Dyker Heights is a residential neighborhood in the southwest corner of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City. It is sandwiched between Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst, and Gravesend Bay.

The neighborhood of Dyker Heights lies within the boundaries of the then-Dutch town of New Utrecht settled in 1657. The area that is now known as Dyker Heights was not developed in the 17th or 18th centuries because the land was too sloped for farming; it remained common woodland until the mid-19th century. The trees of this forest were used by the townsfolk as a source of firewood and construction material. When the agricultural industry of New Utrecht changed from the farming grains to the cultivation of market garden produce, the trees were cleared for tomatoes, cabbages, and potatoes, among other produce.

Walter Loveridge Johnson in October 1895 started Dyker Heights on his parents' property. Johnson named his development "Dyker Heights" after the Dyker Meadow and Beach, which his development overlooks. The meadow and beach received their name from either the Van Dykes (an original New Utrecht family) who built the dykes to drain the meadow, or for the dykes that the Van Dykes built.

I helped with the luncheon.  As soon as we had things cleaned up and put I away, I headed for home. I didn't want to be caught in rush hour traffic.  They are doing construction on the Kosciuszko Bridge and it takes about 30-45 extra minutes of drive time due to the construction slow-down.  In rush hour it is worse!

I followed this truck for quite a few miles.

View of Lower Manhattan from the 278.

There are several areas in Brooklyn where there are Hasidic Jewish communities.
I admire them for the commitment they make in their dress. Modesty is foremost:  Long overcoats
and hats for men (no matter the temperature) and modest skirts and sleeves past the elbows for women,
stockings to cover their legs, and married women cover their hair with wigs or scarves or both.
When I go to Brooklyn I always notice people crossing on the bridge above the roadway.

Picture from the Internet of the original Kosciuszko Bridge- the one being replaced.

The Kosciuszko Bridge  refers to two bridges that span Newtown Creek between the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, connecting Greenpoint, Brooklyn and Maspeth, Queens. It is a part of Interstate 278, which is also locally known as the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway or BQE.

The original bridge is a truss bridge that opened in 1939, replacing the Penny Bridge that connected Meeker Avenue in Brooklyn to Review Avenue and Laurel Hill Boulevard in Queens, and is the only bridge over Newtown Creek that is not a drawbridge. It was named in honor of Tadeusz Ko?ciuszko, a Polish volunteer who was a General in the American Revolutionary War. Two of the bridge towers were surmounted with eagles, one with the Polish eagle and the other the American eagle.

In 2014, a contract was awarded and work begun to build a replacement bridge with more capacity. This new bridge has the same name as the original bridge.

Thursday I went into Manhattan with a missionary to an appointment.  I enjoy watching the people on the trains.  You can tell a lot about a person by their feet/shoes.  I also have noticed people's lips.  It is an interesting aspect of one's appearance.  Everyone has two peaks and a valley or a cupid's bow feature.  Some women accentuate the peaks and valley and others are just natural.  Some lip peaks and valley are more like rolling hills.   Even men can have high peaks.  Some top lips are full and bigger than the bottom lip.  Others are just the opposite.  I got a picture of feet but it is impossible to get pictures of lips without being noticed.  Didn't want to be considered a pervert. See what 45 minutes on a train can cause me to do.  My mind just takes off and I see and think the funniest things: Thursday it was feet and lips.

Feet on the train:  construction workers, runners, shoppers,
medical person (turned away from me), sandals for cool comfort, etc.

Tile mural at Lexinton and 59th St station

Cupid's bow

Every day I get calls from the missionaries but Friday and Saturday for some reason were particularly busy.  I was trying to get my reports finished but it took a while.  We have a stomach virus going through the mission so I gave a lot of advice for nausea and vomiting treatment and the BRAT diet for diarrhea.  Had other usual calls:  a couple of tick bites, 3 new cases of bedbugs, a sprained ankle, an allergic reaction, pink eye, reaction to a medication (not allergic but nausea), migraine, etc.

Lunch on Saturday with Elders Hilton and Wu

Saturday night a diabetic missionary called with a blood glucose level over 600.  Apparently the insulin pump needle/tubing was blocked in some way.  Removed the pump and used a syringe until the blood glucose stabilized at a safe level.  So starting at 8:30 PM the missionary took the blood glucose level every hour and called me and I would help decide what the dosage of insulin should be.  By 6:30 AM the level was back to a safe level.  I slept between phone calls but the missionary and companion didn't sleep.  Interesting night.  Brought back a lot of memories of working with diabetics in the hospital before there were pumps and modern equipment that makes a diabetic's life easier and better.

In the days of roaming dinosaurs, we used "sliding scales" to determine the amount
of insulin a patient was to receive. Now the patient programs in what their glucose level
is and the pump calculates the insulin dosage and injects it automatically.

Saturday I went to Home Depot.  I wanted to get some dowels and a 2 x 3 so that I could make rhythm instruments for the Primary.  I had the dowels cut into 5 inch lengths and the 2 x 3 cut into 4 inch lengths.  I bought some sand paper and came home and sanded them so no one would get slivers.  Then I glued sand paper on some of the blocks so they could be slid together for a raspy noise.   (Only had 5 children in Primary but they had fun with the rhythm blocks and sticks as we sang pioneer songs.)

Going to Home Depot had a strange effect on me.  The smell of the wood and being in the store took me back to the summer before Kay became too sick to go out.  We worked on our apartments fixing them up and improving them.  That summer we spent a lot of time at Home Depot picking up materials and things to do our work.  The smell of the new cut lumber also made me think of Kay and his shop and how he loved working there making new things and refinishing old things.  He could spend hours cutting, sanding, gluing, using his lathe, and being creative.  Fond memories of good times, hard work, and lots of love.

Too often in the rush and crunch of daily life and work, I think that I didn't/don't appreciate the good and beautiful things I had/have.  My time as a child, a teenager, a student, a wife, a mother, a grandmother were/are wonderful.  The things I have experienced, some quite difficult, have taught me and helped me to grow.  I know that I often take the trials, gifts and blessings I have for granted and I don't show the appreciation that I should.  I am blessed.  I know that all I have and enjoy comes from a loving Father in Heaven.

In Primary today we sang "My Heavenly Father Loves Me."  It caused me this afternoon to ponder about my life and the beauties of this world, my memories, and my family.

Whenever I hear the song of a bird
Or look at the blue, blue sky,
Whenever I feel the rain on my face
Or the wind as it rushes by,
Whenever I touch a velvet rose
Or walk by our lilac tree,
I'm glad that I live in this beautiful world
Heav'nly Father created for me.

He gave me my eyes that I might see
The color of butterfly wings.
He gave me my ears that I might hear
The magical sound of things.
He gave me my life, my mind, my heart:
I thank him rev'rently
For all his creations, of which I'm a part.
Yes, I know Heav'nly Father loves me.

I have deep gratitude for Kay, for my children and grandchildren, for my parents and brother and sister and for Kay's family.  I have the best friends and support system.  I love my ward family at home and my mission family here in New York.  I am grateful for the restoration of the Gospel in these latter days and for my membership in the Church.  I am grateful for my Savior and His atonement and sacrifice for me.  I love Him and my Heavenly Father.  The knowledge that Kay and I and our children and grandchildren are an eternal family is my greatest blessing.

I love you my family and friends.

Along the sidewalk going up the hill to my apartment are weeds in the grass.
The weeds actually have beautiful flowers in them. At home I spent many hours trying to
get rid of morning glory whose roots go to China. Here along the sidewalk, they are pretty.

I don't know what this is but I like it.

This moss and weed in the cracks of the steps at my back door caught my eye.

Very lovely Sisters Steninger and McDowell adorn the sidewalk along with these lavender flowers.
I like the interesting petals.

Tiny little daisy-like flowers about the size of my pinky fingernail.